CVS, Walgreens require prescriptions for COVID vaccines in Colorado

People who want to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine at CVS or Walgreens pharmacies in Colorado this fall will need to present a prescription.

State law allows pharmacists to administer vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group that counsels the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about who will benefit from which shots.

In previous years, the committee recommended updated COVID-19 vaccines within days of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approving them. This year, the committee doesn’t have any meetings scheduled until late September, and may not recommend the shot when it does meet, since Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appointed multiple members with anti-vaccine views after removing all prior appointees in June.

The lack of a recommendation also means that insurance companies aren’t legally required to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine without out-of-pocket costs. Most private insurers will cover the updated shots this year, though that could change in 2026, according to Reuters.

Initially, CVS said it couldn’t give the COVID-19 vaccine to anyone in Colorado or 15 other states, because of their ACIP-approval requirement. As of Friday morning, its pharmacies can offer the shots to eligible people who have a prescription, spokeswoman Amy Thibault said.

As of about 10 a.m. Friday, CVS’s website wouldn’t allow visitors to schedule COVID-19 shots in Colorado.

Walgreens didn’t respond to questions about its COVID-19 vaccine policy, but its website said patients need a prescription in Colorado. A New York Times reporter found the same in 15 other states.

The FDA this week recommended the updated shots only for people who are over 65 or have a health condition that puts them at risk for severe disease.

The listed conditions include:

• Asthma and other lung diseases
• Cancer
• History of stroke or disease in the brain’s blood vessels
• Chronic kidney disease
• Liver disease
• Cystic fibrosis
• Diabetes (all types)
• Developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome
• Heart problems
• Mental health conditions, including depression and schizophrenia
• Dementia
• Parkinson’s disease
• Obesity
• Physical inactivity
• Current or recent pregnancy
• Diseases or medications that impair the immune system
• Smoking